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Reminiscing on Arizona

I suppose that before I get too far into writing about my first week in Australia, I should catch my readers up on the last five months or so.  In my last post I said that I would be writing about my insights from my trip to Arizona.  I ended up arriving back home only a day or two before my fall classes started at KU, and I just didn't make it a priority.  I will admit, I thought a lot about my time in Arizona throughout the semester, especially in conjunction with my environmental law course, where we looked at expansion over time into the western U.S. and the impacts that large water projects had on the desert's habitability and the ways that the location of national parks influenced who lobbied on behalf of public lands protection.

First and foremost, spending time in Prescott was a much needed reprieve from the hustle and bustle of my trip to Minnesota.  I didn't realize how much I was doing until I took a moment to relax and realized that I was overwhelming my schedule with activities.  Arizona was the exact opposite, and I intentionally made it that way.  My body and mind required a break.

Probably the biggest key to making that happen were my amazing hosts, Megan and David.  I've known Megan since my second semester at JCCC, almost five years ago now.  They're laid back style and go-with-the-flow attitude helped me scale back and just breathe.  I'm sure it also helped that I signed up for bikram yoga and attended classes almost every day.  Enough cannot be said for the power of reteaching yourself how to breathe.

I also learned that I don't want to live in a desert!  Go figure.  Thinking about climate change trajectories and the fact that growing crops in a desert makes no economic sense, I don't feel like I could justify it.  That's not to say that communities in the desert are doomed to fail, but they will constantly be dealing with water shortages and water scarcity, and I would rather live somewhere that water is at least somewhat abundant. 

That being said, one of the things that I kept reflecting on this semester was the fact that during my time in Arizona, Megan and I traveled to so many different national and state parks that were all within a couple hours drive of Prescott.  We saw some incredible national monuments (and took some kick ass photos), hiked all over the place, and took a moment to read.  These small moments of calmness and physical exertion served as a nice contrast to my "go go go" mentality that kept me moving in Minnesota.

From these experiences, I realized how few state parks in Kansas I had visited.  I purchased another state park pass for this coming year, with the goal of taking a trip out to at least two so that I get my money's worth.  Knowing that my schedule this semester will allow me four-day weekends, the odds are quite high that I'll just make a long weekend out of it.  Whether or not someone ends up coming with me is yet to be determined.  :)

I wish that there were more of a culture around going to state parks in Kansas.  No one that I know really is into that, but maybe that's just a result of surrounding myself with city folk.  And maybe I just wish that there were a greater recreational culture in Lawrence.  I am disappointed that rowing is not an activity available to the public through the parks and recreation.  Perhaps I'll take that on as my personal project this next year...

Ultimately, I find myself laughing at a comment my grandma made earlier this year.  Her audacity sometimes astounds me, but alas, you gotta love family for all of their qualities.  I don't remember her exact words, but it was something to the tune of "You oughta think about working more instead of taking off two weeks at a time, or else you won't have any money".  And the whole time, I'm thinking, "Umm...I never take time for myself to do anything, and the fact that I'm taking a week to spend time with my friend in Arizona that I haven't seen for almost a year is more valuable to me than a bigger paycheck.  Plus, my trip to Minneapolis is going to be paid for by KU!" 

Either way, I know that my time off from school and work and studying for the GRE and preparing my graduate school applications was absolutely necessary for my mental health.

Next up: Reflections on the cultural nuances of Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bun, in case you were wondering).  

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